The morning felt like the beginning to any normal day. Rey stirred from her slumber, listened to the choir of birds sing in the canopies, and rose from her hammock. Up until the moment she began noticing everything that divided reality from fantasy, she assumed the world around her was real.

The voices caroling in the trees began to gradually diminish, fading to a more long-distant hum. The air was warm and cheery, not laden with the usual sticky summer heat. The atmosphere appeared hazy and dreamy like she was living in some kind of trance. Or was it a dream?

Slowly, intuitively, she began to move toward the heart of the lagoon where waterfalls plunged from cliffs at whimsical heights. She hardly ever visited that area of the waterfront so she didn't understand why she was brought there.

Perhaps it was simply eager for her to see nature's most breathtaking scenery. Or maybe it was destiny's way of showing her something more, something bigger. Something beyond the bark and wilting branches of a willow tree. Away from shadows and where sunlight thrived. Apart from solitude and where friendship bloomed. A belonging. Although she would be surprised if that were so.

A small gathering of waterfowl and other creatures were there to welcome her. Surprisingly she saw none of the other fairies who usually populated the area. That was her final verification, this version of her homeworld definitely wasn't real. Much to her own amusement, she stayed, wanting to savor it all before reality made it vanish.

Parking herself amongst small pebbles of bedrock and mud, she teased the shallow water there with her toes, gazing with awestruck eyes at the musical ensemble straight ahead. It was the first symphony of its kind for her to have ever witnessed. Sadly it would likely be the last since dreams like this seldom ever happened more than once.

There were turtles sunning themselves on rocks. Fish of species big and small grazed beneath the water's surface, snatching insects that hovered above, avoiding the blue herons and loons who lingered nearby. Mockingjays mimicked the toons of their cousins from cherry blossom trees. Water frogs and toads provided just the right amount of base from their posts on moss-infested logs.

When one melody ended another abruptly started in its place. She sat like that for the longest time, listening, hoping her other self held no intention of waking anytime soon. And then, like it was rehearsed specifically for the act, a smaller jay flew from its blossom perch and landed on the finger she'd offered, singing to Rey her own personal solo.

Or tried to at least…

For being a songbird the little jay was slightly off-key; however, the speckles dotting its back told her it was still a chick. With a smile on her face, she watched it perform, trying not to wince whenever it struggled to reach higher-pitched notes. It sang and sang and sang. And sang some more until its tiny heart was finally content.

"That was so beautiful, thank you," she praised with glee. "Just keep practicing, okay?"

Happy to have earned her appraisal the jay gave a sharp chirp and flew away. She watched it disappear inside the rosey blossoms where it previously sat.

"I think 'tolerable' would have been more accurate."

Startled her breath caught in her throat at the sound of the stranger's voice, richer than velvet and deep within its timbre. Her having company in a fantasy world was the last thing she had expected, knowing that the visitor was a male made it worse.

She scrambled to her feet and turned, expecting to see one of the other male fairies from her home but was instead met with the face of someone new. Someone who she hadn't seen before. Someone who had left her at a total loss for words.

He was impressively taller than the average male fairy, broad-shouldered with wings as black as ebony, and creamy skin on a chest that may as well have been etched from marble. Prominently defined pelvic lines beneath a toned abdomen extended from a pair of black slacks, frayed around the bottom hems and ending at his knees. Lush layers of a raven mane framed his handsome face, dappled by beauty marks, and ineffectively hiding the narrow tips of large ears.

Her gaze swept over his pillowy lips to his eyes, warm and brown and mottled with flecks of honey. The longer she stared, the more she found them strangely familiar. She had seen them before but on someone of an entirely different form.

"I'm sorry," he grimaced, folding his arms. "I didn't mean to disturb you. I just -."

"No, I - who are you?" She demanded curiously, recovering from her inadvertent gawking. "Have we met before?"

Hesitant to respond at first, he took a breath then nodded.

"We have." His lips twitched at the corners. "Just once though."

Intrigued her mouth opened with a need to know more, but at that same moment, the sun emerged from over the canopies, exposing the azure in his feathers. There was also a scar on his left shoulder she hadn't noticed, raw and clearly an arrow wound in its early stages of healing. Like everything else about him, it reminded her of Kylo's.

Blinking at the blemish on his skin, her brows knitted when she realized that Kylo was missing. An absurd thought crossed her mind then and she closed her eyes, shaking her head in an effort to set aside the notion that Kylo and the stranger were one and the same. Because why would Kylo, as a fairy, visit her in a dream? It really was silly, even though the evident details suggested otherwise.

When she opened her eyes, the world had changed and her handsome stranger was gone. There was no music. No glee. And she was left standing in darkness, surrounded by a forest of thorns.

Fortunately, from under the branches of her willow Rey woke to a morning of cloudy skies - and no thorns. There was no dazzling symphony playing for her; neither was there a tall, dark, and handsome fairy within her company.

So many words had been left unspoken, questions left unanswered. Like how had they previously met when she held no memory of it? His eyes. His wings. That scar and sensual voice. The familiarity of him, and not being able to put a finger on how she knew him, troubled her like something fierce.

Deep inside, she wished he had told her his name, but she supposed it would've made little to no difference if he did. She needed to convince herself he was nothing more than a figment of her imagination, that he wasn't real. Since visions were seldom as they seemed she didn't bother pondering what the rest had all meant; although, one aspect of it remained the same. Not only had Kylo been absent from her dream, but he was also nowhere to be seen in the world outside it.

For the past several weeks throughout his recovery, Kylo had stayed with her in her hammock at night. Sometimes he cozied up to her in the crook of her neck, using her wing for padding, while others were spent on her belly. Regardless of where he slept, he had been with her whenever she woke.

She had always been aware of the chance that he would leave when his wing completely healed, but it was a day she also dreaded. After many days of him perching on her shoulder, she had become used to his constant presence. For the first time in her life, she never felt entirely alone.

The selfish part of her began to hope her friendship would be enough for him to stay. There was so much she wanted to know about him, wanted to see even. How she longed to see his face, to hear the comfort of his true voice. Up until now, a week following his ability to fly again, she believed there was a possibility of it happening.

Oh, how foolish she was to have thought such a thing. No one ever came back for her, not even her own parents did. So why would a raven, with no strings attached to her, want to live with her in the slums when he had freedom at the tips of his wings?

You helped him, Rey, she sniffed, drying the moisture from her bottom eyelashes with a knuckle. You did what you promised him. You have to let go.

Caw! Caw!

With a sharp gasp, she turned from her seat at the riverbank to see said raven gliding towards her. As he hovered before landing, she caught a flicker of something attached to the end of his beak, reflecting a ray of sunlight.

"There you are!" She cried happily, relieved that he hadn't left after all. "Where did you fly off to so early?"

Gingerly he settled his feet on her knee, jutting his beak to reveal the tiny ring-shaped object that he carried. She chuckled, assuming he wanted her to take it. So she did with a raised brow.

"You're feeding my hoarding problem now, huh?" She mused. "Let's see what you brought me."

Studying the trinket in her fingers she saw that it was indeed a ring, bronze with an intricate carving of two hands clasped together, dirtied in the grooves from wherever he found it. But she didn't care. It was her most prized possession now because it was from him. Unfortunately, it was roughly a few sizes too big when she slid it over a scrawny finger.

"This is beautiful, Kylo," she beamed at him. His chest swelled with pride. "It doesn't fit, but we can improvise, right? I'm sure there's some string or something with the rest of my junk that I can use to make it work."

Seeming to agree he took to his usual post on her shoulder, while she proceeded to search through a collection that had gotten ridiculously larger with each passing day. She found a black pair of slacks that she had rolled up and shoved into a basket, frayed at the bottom leg hems. The unraveled thread was thick, ideal for her ring to serve as a necklace.

She gave the longest string of thread a hard tug, freeing it from the garment. She slipped it through the center of the loop and then knotted the ends together. Her smile widened when she placed it around her neck, and the space in which encompassed her heart flourished with a new kind of warmth. Kylo gave her a few tender pecks on the cheek, minding the sharp tip of his beak.

Did he just kiss her?

Drawing her head back askance, gaining a better view of him, she grazed a finger over his fluffy crest. By doing so she aroused a soft purr from his throat, Kylo's newest way of assuring her he was happy. His eyes grew hooded when she moved to his cheek.

"I bet you're that way with all the ladies aren't you?"

That caused his eyes to widen. Puffing his feathers Kylo tucked his head beneath his wing. She laughed, thinking she must've embarrassed him.

"Well, I can assure they would've been very lucky to have you," she cooed.

"Rey!"

"In here Armie!" She hollered back, shocked upon hearing a low growl rumble the raven's chest.

"Now what's gotten into you?" She scoffed. "It's just Armie, silly. He knows better now that he shouldn't have shot you. "

Precisely.

Kylo knew of the ginger's precarious reputation all too well, more than he liked to admit as he had often been Armie's prime target of cruel nicknames and pranks in the past.

Back in the marshland, Armie had gone by the name Hux, founder of the realm's most notorious bully gang The First Order. If she were only aware of the atrocities that Armie was guilty of committing, she likely wouldn't have called him her friend; even though Armie seemed to be quite different with her than he was back then.

In spite of knowing Armie's significant change of heart towards her, their friendship never ceased to curb his repugnance toward Hux. Or Armie, whatever, the name was much too soft for him to swallow. It was difficult not to pluck an eyeball from Armie's pale and rigid face. How he always managed to refrain from doing so whenever the fairy was around surprised him every time. As always, Hux's face was smug when he entered the willow.

"You have way too much crap in here," Armie scowled, browsing over the clutter.

Rey wasn't deterred by the remark. It seemed to make her more excited to show off her newest possession. "Perhaps, but look!" Taking the ring between two fingers she thrust it forward so Hux would see. "Kylo found it for me this morning!"

"Charming," Armie quipped, not caring the slightest bit. "I came by yesterday but you weren't here as usual."

Because she was with me.

"Oh, yeah! Kylo and I were out and about in the woods all day."

Armie crossed his arms, arching a brow. "And the day before then?"

She tapped a finger at the side of her chin, making a clicking sound behind her teeth. "Same thing probably."

"So you get a pet and I get sidelined. Am I not good enough now? Is that how it is?" He sneered. "It's been well over a month since the last time we even hung out!"

Kylo couldn't deny how delightful it was to see the agony on Armie's face. Along with every revelation of her admitting to rather spend time with Kylo and not him, he watched the dagger wrench itself deeper. And deeper. It was almost painful to witness. Almost…

Forget the eyeballs. This is revenge is so much better.

"Don't be ridiculous," she chided, crossing her arms. "You're my best friend, right?"

Armie snorted. "You tell me, Rey. I was going to invite you to a gathering with friends tonight. But do I even want to bother?"

Chewing her bottom lip, she regarded Kylo from her peripheral like she was expecting his permission for her to go. Kylo knew that he had no right to hold a claim over her, she was certainly able to take care of herself. But this - something wasn't right. Something about Hux's offer felt off though he wasn't able to provide a reason why.

"Without the bird," Armie added bitterly, his icy gaze fixed on Kylo.

Right there! There it was.

No! No no no! Please, Rey. Please stay with me.

"Fine," she huffed, rolling her eyes. "What kind of gathering are we talking? Like a party?"

"You'll see," Hux grinned in triumph. "It's a surprise."

"You know that I hate surprises," she grumbled.

But you love mine.

She looked at him, smiling. He swore that she must've read his mind. If only she were more attentive to the rest of his thoughts.

"So I'll see you tonight then?" Armie suggested.

Nodding, her gaze returned to Armie. "Yes, tonight."

Smug, Armie raised a hand to her face. Whether he planned to hug her or not, Kylo never found out. As Armie's fingers brushed over her skin and past Kylo, he couldn't resist the opportunity of biting just one. Hard. He actually drew blood.

Armie shrieked and hastily retrieved his hand. Rey gave him a reprimanding look, mouth agape.

"Kylo!" She exclaimed. "What has gotten into you?"

Armie glowered at him, favoring his injured hand to his chest, lips tightly pinched. "I should've aimed for the vile creature's heart instead," he spat.

"You would have done no such thing!" She barked, gesturing a hand towards the entrance. "Just go, Armie. I promise I'll see you tonight."

Armie cast a final glance in her direction, nostrils flaring and temper rising, before he finally left.

Finally.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," she scolded, giving Kylo a light pop on the beak with a finger. "If I didn't know any better, I should say that my pet is acting a wee bit jealous today."

Gods, I hate that name.

And Kylo was far from jealous, quite the contrary actually. If he could just get her to understand then all would be golden. But he knew she would go whether he begged her to stay or not. He hoped that his intuition was wrong, blame it on the change in weather. At least it would put him more at ease to enjoy the remainder of their day together; which was spent exploring trails and picking fresh berries to replenish their stash at home.

Storm clouds began moving in while the late hours of dusk descended. Kylo kept his silent promise to Rey and stayed behind, begrudgingly. Although there had been a few times where he considered lingering at a distance, just to be sure she was safe. But he opted out with the latter and instead, he waited.

And waited.

And waited some more on a branch of their willow, alongside the one supporting their hammock. As the hours carried late into the night he slowly dozed off. When he opened his eyes next, it was barely daylight. A soft rain trickled through the leaves and limbs, dampening his feathers and the rope to an empty hammock.

The hammock. Rey! Where is she?

He couldn't find her in the canopy, neither was she inside the trunk with her trinkets or down by the lagoon. The longer he searched, and came up empty-handed, the more he started to panic.

Rey had never come home.